Computer Music December issue (CMU107) on sale now!

Details of what's in this month's issue, including LinPlug AlphaCM, 2400 royalty-free samples and the CM Mix Surgery!

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ON THE DVD• Exclusive synth plug-in – LinPlug AlphaCM!This specially enhanced version of LinPlug’s stunning FreeALPHA 3 synth is yours only with this issue of Computer Music. Featuring an all-new and exclusive ring modulator and a bank of specially commissioned patches, AlphaCM is an amazing VST plug-in for PC and Mac (both PPC and Intel).

• 2400 royalty-free samplesWe’re getting deeply down and, indeed, dirty in the samples department this month, with the exclusive 1,936-strong 24-bit CM Future Funk collection. Comprising 800 Cyclick construction kit loops, 651 Andrew Duke guitar and percussion loops, and 485 Groove Criminals instrument and drum loops, there’s enough here to keep you on the futuristic good foot for months of music making to come. And supplementing that little lot are 464 CM Classic beats and basslines in a range of styles and tempi.

IN THE MAG • Mix SurgeryWe strap a badly mixed track to the operating table and demonstratively cure its various ailments with the help of producer extraordinaire Pete ‘K-Complex’ Richardson. Tackling everything from weak kick drums and bass sounds, to lacking lead lines, flaccid percussion and that general lack of energy that afflicts so many home-produced mixes, our step-by-step guides are just the thing to keep your tracks in the rudest of health.

• The CM Guide to Cubase 4, Part 1Perhaps the most eagerly awaited of all this year’s big DAW updates, Steinberg’s latest is nothing short of a software engineering triumph (as our review, also in this issue, reveals). In Part 1 of our two-part CM Guide, we show you how to get the most out of Cubase’s new MediaBay technology, Track Presets, Control Room system, SoundFrame librarian and more.

• AI in musicSoftware that intelligently generates musical data based on rules set by you and its own experience? It sounds like the stuff of cyberdreams (or something), but using the software on this month’s DVD and our walkthroughs, you really can get your Mac or PC thinking artistically with you. What next – cars that drive themselves?!

• Ambient production tipsTake your low-key tunes to even greater heights of chillness with our top 27 professional ambient production techniques.

• Mark King talks softwareLevel 42 are back, and for frontman and bass legend Mark King the computer revolution has enabled a whole new approach to production. In this month’s CM interview, he reveals his favourite software tools and explains why he’d never go back to big studios and even bigger budgets…